1. Statement of the Technical Field
The invention is directed to the field of firmware for electronic devices, and more particularly, to systems and methods for upgrading firmware in electronic devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many types of electronic devices, including standalone and peripheral devices, operate using some form of firmware. In general, firmware provides various settings and algorithms that specify how an electronic device should operate and how the device should communicate with other devices. Firmware is typically stored in the electronic device using some type of non-volatile memory and loaded into a working memory of the device upon power-up or enabling of the electronic device. Once the firmware is loaded, the electronic device performs operations according to the firmware. Although some types of electronic devices have been designed to allow firmware to be upgraded in the field to improve performance of the device (e.g., computer motherboard bios), other types of electronic devices generally require specialized hardware for performing such upgrades. For example, non-volatile memory used for storing firmware in a memory module typically needs high voltage signals to provide access to this firmware. Generally, these are voltages exceeding the voltages available at the memory module interfaces of conventional end-user computing system. As a result, most memory devices require that they be sent back to their manufacturer for purposes of updating their firmware. Accordingly, the inconvenience and cost of perform such firmware upgrades general results in many computing systems using one or more devices configured with older, performance-limiting firmware.